Subscribe to this blog

Follow by Email

Search This Blog

Posts

2013 has been a really busy year for me. I've been working on getting myself back up to full fitness after last year's leg break and work has been insanely busy. That said I still have managed to read loads (227 at time of writing this although I'm sure it'll go up over the last 8 days of the month) and get down to London for some events

This year I have taken my foot off the pedal a bit. I've been reading lots which I haven't bothered to review including some adult books and I must admit it has been nice. Scheduling ahead has worked brilliantly for me and my TBR pile has been all but annihilated meaning I've been able to read well ahead and do some work around 2014 releases both for Bookish Brits and for We Love This Book.

Thanks for all my lovely blogging friends including Sarah, Lyndsey, Carly, Raimy, Laura, Darren Andrew, Jesse, Sammee and Sophie. I'm glad we are all going strong blogwise and I don't know how I managed to keep sane without you …

So with the end of 2013 almost upon us it is time for me to think about which of the numerous books I have read this year (total currently stands at 225 at time of writing this post) I loved the best. What follows, in no particular order are my best books of 2013. I deliberately am not going to include books with a 2014 release date as I'll deal with them in another blog post.

For
Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life
as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to
leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most
powerful family in the country.

If she says yes, Kitty will be
Masked—surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister’s
niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart
family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time,
she will matter.

There’s only one catch. She must also stop the
rebellion that Lila secretly fostered. The same one that got her
killed…and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a
life that’s not her own, she must decide which path to choose—and learn
how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she’s only beginning
to understand

My thoughtsI have mixed feelings about this book. I think I liked it but I must admit I…

The girl with straight
As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that's who people expect
Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her
wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more
to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in
her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she
has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the
tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out
of her mind.

Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and
how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get
tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for
kicks-no matter how angelic she might look.

But when their
shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they
have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how
far they'll go to save each other.

I have some real crackers this month. So many books I am just dying to read have had covers announced since I last did one of these posts. All links take you straight to goodreads so you can add them to your wishlists.

Charlie Han's troubles are way bigger than he is. At school, he's
branded an outsider, a loser - the tiny kid from the Chinese Chippy. His
only ally is Sinus Sedgely, the only lad in school with a worse
reputation than Charlie himself. Life at home isn't much better. His dad
is better with a wok than he is with words, and his mum is suffocating
the life out of Charlie, wrapping him in enough cotton wool to fill a
pharmacy. But when a new passion leads Charlie to the mother of all
confrontations, he finds his mum's been hiding a massive secret. A
secret that whilst shocking, might actually lead Charlie to feeling ten
feet tall. The Bubble Wrap Boy is ab…

When
East Coast native Elizabeth receives her freshman-year roommate
assignment, she shoots off an e-mail to coordinate the basics:
television, microwave, mini-fridge. That first note to San Franciscan
Lauren sparks a series of e-mails that alters the landscape of each
girl's summer -- and raises questions about how two girls who are so
different will ever share a dorm room.

As the countdown to
college begins, life at home becomes increasingly complex. With family
relationships and childhood friendships strained by change, it suddenly
seems that the only people Elizabeth and Lauren can rely on are the
complicated new boys in their lives . . . and each other. Even though
they've never met.

My thoughts

I
thoroughly enjoyed Roomies mostly because I loved seeing a friendship
develop via emails. The story is split narrative and tells the story of
two girls who get in contact after they are assigned to be roommates f…

Some of you might know I teach History at High School. I love finding
good YA historical fiction which I can use in the classroom if only to
recommend to my students as wider reading.

I do however find that I can be very critical of historical fiction and I
do find myself having to give up on books others have raved about
because I can't get over historical inaccuracies or stories where events
are treated lightly.

This month I have a selection of books set in and around the Victorian period (some do slip into Edwardian too)

The Quietness by Alison Rattle

This book utterly fascinated me as a historian. It looks at Victorian baby farms and I was hooked right from the first page. As well as a fascinating story line the main characters were awesome and the ending is truly brilliant. I loved it.

Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman

I adore this series and possibly like it more than his Dark Material series. Sally Lockhart is an awesomely brilliantl female lead and I loved her coura…

I thoroughly enjoyed everyone a stranger and it was the perfect book to finish a series I have adored from start to finish.

Everyone
a stranger is set at the end of the Second World War and finishes off
Molly, Adam and Abigail's story. I loved several things about it. I
loved how the book really got across this sense of people looking
forward to a brave new world. The way it discusses the way in which
people were keen to vote for labour and tackle the five giants as set
out by William Beveridge's report is brilliant. You really get the idea
that people, having given up everything for the war effort, were now
wanting better for the country and themselves in the future and were
keen to vote for it even if that meant ousting the Great War leader
Churchill to do so.

This book was more grown up and darker in
its feel than previous books and you really get the sense that these
characters whom you've followed over the previous books have grown up
and are about to bec…

Goodreads SynopsisSet in a near-future Britain, Dark Satanic Mills tracks a young
girl's journey from the flooded landmarks of London to the vast,
scorched and abandoned hills of the north. Framed for a murder she did
not commit, the innocent and beautiful Christie has no other choice but
to run for her life. Both a cautionary tale and a rip-roaring road trip,
Dark Satanic Mills is altogether an intelligent, captivating and thrilling ride - The Wizard of Oz for a new generation, told in exhilarating shades of light and dark. ReviewDark Satanic Mills is a grim, brooding story of an
England, very different yet still recognisable as our own, that has suffered
acute environmental disaster.This
has been exploited by an opportunistic, fanatical religion known as The True
Church who control the country through propaganda, fear and violence.It is not dissimilar from V for Vendetta
or 1984 – although in both those cases it was the state who were the
totalitarian authority as opp…

For years, Elissa has
suffered nightmarish visions and unexplained bruises. Finally, she's
promised a cure, and an operation is scheduled. But on the eve of the
procedure, Elissa discovers the truth: she's seeing the world through
another girl's eyes. A world filled with wires, machines and pain.
Elissa follows her visions, only to find a battered, broken girl. A girl
who looks exactly like her. A twin she never knew existed. Elissa and
her twin Lin go on the run, but even after changing their looks and
clothes, they're barely a step ahead of the government agents who are
ruthlessly tracking them down. For Lin and Elissa are too valuable to
let go, and the dark truth at the heart of it all is too shocking to
risk exposing..

My thoughtsLinked
was an interesting read for me. I received it for review months ago and
somehow never managed to get around to it until now.

Linked has
bold ideas. The world it is set in is near future where a strict
government impos…

This week gone was anti-bullying week and my lovely vlogging team have been working on a whole variety of videos around the theme of bullying (and will continue to do so over the next week). Mine went up Thursday and is about being bullied by your friends and highlights two of my favourite books that deal with this issue.

On a personal note Anti-bullying week is a special one for me. I had a rubbish time at high school as a result of friends who were slyly unpleasant to me without my realising which was not in the least fun at the time and continued to effect me a long time afterwards (even now it hits me from time to time).

From a work point of view Anti-bullying week has also been a busy one. I have been involved in running our school peer support team for a few years now which I was keen to take on when it was offered. The kids involved are amazing and over this week we have been super busy promoting anti-bullying messages across the school and further afield which was fab.

THE ISOBEL JOURNAL is no
ordinary snapshot of a contemporary teenage life. A charming and vivid
narrative scrapbook of the eighteen-year-old author's sketches,
mini-graphic novels, photographs and captions, it captures her wit, her
observations and her creative talent as she takes us through the three
central themes in her life: 'Love', 'Friends, Art and Otters' and 'Me'.

Resonant
of Laura Dockrill's MISTAKES IN THE BACKGROUND and with the powerful
naïve illustrative style of cult Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara, this is
a collector's gift for teenagers and all who have the teenage
experience still in their hearts. Readers will emphasise with this witty
and honest journal of a girl getting to grips with impending adulthood.
A must-have for all hipster teenagers and anyone who appreciates the
raw creativity of youth. Enchanting and poignant.

Spending
a few months travelling around Europe - with no parents, no
responsibilities and a no limit credit card - Kelsey's having the time
of her life.

But when she completely embarrasses herself in front
of the hottest guy she's ever seen, she soon realises there's more to
life than the next party.

What she doesn't realise is that although she's on a journey to find herself, she will end up finding The One...

My thoughtsA really brief review for my
favourite book of the series so far. I really liked the main characters and
their relationship. I loved that it didn't have an American setting an it made want to go on an European trip to see all the things the characters saw. The chemistry was sizzling and there are certainly scenes with some smoking hot action going on. If you aren't sure about NA books and want a good place to start this is it.

I always have a wishlist of future titles I am desperate to read and I
thought from time to time I'd share the books I am most looking forward
to. All links go to goodreads so you can add them to your wishlist

Kit
is proud to be a Blackhart, now she’s encountered her unorthodox
cousins and their strange lives. And her home-schooling now includes
spells, fighting enemy fae and using ancient weapons. But it’s not until
she rescues a rather handsome fae prince, fighting for his life on the
edge of Blackhart Manor, that her training really kicks in. With her
family away on various missions, Kit must protect Prince Thorn, rely on
new friends and use her own unfamiliar magic to stay ahead of Thorn’s
enemies. As things go from bad to apocalyptic, fae battle fae in a war
that threatens to spill into the human world. Then Kit pits herself
against the Elder Gods themselves – it’s that or …

No one really knows who
Andrew Winston Winters is. Least of all himself. He is part Win, a
lonely teenager exiled to a remote boarding school in the wake of a
family tragedy. The guy who shuts the whole world out, no matter the
cost, because his darkest fear is of himself ...of the wolfish predator
within. But he's also part Drew, the angry boy with violent impulses
that control him. The boy who, one fateful summer, was part of something
so terrible it came close to destroying him. A deftly woven, elegant,
unnerving psychological thriller about a boy at war with himself. Charm
and Strange is a masterful exploration of one of the greatest taboos

My thoughtsI'm not sure I have the words to review this so this review will be brief.

This
book thoroughly messed with my brain and I think I need a few days to
get my head around it all. It's very clever and says a lot about mental
health and the perceptions of people with mental illness within society.
It is told in a r…

Some of you might know I teach History at High School. I love finding
good YA historical fiction which I can use in the classroom if only to
recommend to my students as wider reading.

I do however find that I can be very critical of historical fiction and I
do find myself having to give up on books others have raved about
because I can't get over historical inaccuracies or stories where events
are treated lightly.

This month I have a selection of books set in and around the Tudor Period

YA Titles

Gilt by Katherine Longshore
I really enjoyed this book and its companion Tarnish. I loved how it looked at the story of Henry VIII in a slightly different way from the way the story is usually told.

Witchstruck by Victoria Lamb
I have a bit of a love hate relationship with this book. I love its potential to engage teenage girls who are into paranormal romance into historical fiction. However I hate the role of Elizabeth I in it and it really bothers the historian in me.

If anyone knew the
truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and
seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all
costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose
between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds
herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school
that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who
shouldn't get her, but does....

Ryan Stone is the town golden
boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not
even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant
dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who
couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare
becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly,
the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the
girl he loves, and the girl who won'…

You may remember at the start of September I posted saying I had gone through a stage of reading a lot of books I had bought myself and not reviewed them to take a bit of pressure off. I have continued to do this over the next two months and just wanted to update on here everything I have read of late and not reviewed.

So what have I been reading for myself of late

Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
not my favourite Sarah Dessen unfortunately
Pivot Point by Kasie West
Liked the ideas but wasn't blown away
All these things I've done by Gabrielle Zevin (reread)
I love this series. I reread this so I could read the second book in the series I also loved

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
This is as good as everyone says. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Where the stars still shine by Trish Doller
I also loved this book. Really thoughtful and made me think.

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
Not for me as it was fantasy but never mind
The Offering by Kim Derting
I must admit I was a little bit disappoi…

The gates to Frost
Hollow Hall loomed before us. They were great tall things, the ironwork
all twisted leaves and queer-looking flowers. And they were very
definitely shut.

Tilly's heart sinks. Will's at the door of
their cottage, daring her to come ice-skating up at Frost Hollow Hall.
No one goes near the place these days. Rumour has it that the house is
haunted . . . Ten years ago the young heir, Kit Barrington, drowned
there in the lake. But Tilly never turns down a dare.

Then it
goes horribly wrong. The ice breaks, Tilly falls through and almost
drowns. At the point of death, a beautiful angel appears in the water
and saves her. Kit Barrington's ghost.

Kit needs Tilly to solve
the mystery of his death, so that his spirit can rest in peace. In order
to discover all she can, Tilly gets work as a maid at Frost Hollow
Hall. But the place makes her flesh crawl. It's all about the dead here,
she's told, and in the heart of the house she soon discovers all …

Harriet
knows that modelling won’t transform you. She knows that being as
uniquely odd as a polar bear isn’t necessarily a bad thing (even in a
rainforest). And that the average person eats a ton of food a year,
though her pregnant stepmother is doing her best to beat this.

What Harriet doesn’t know is where she’s going to fit in once the new baby arrives.

With
summer plans ruined, modelling in Japan seems the perfect chance to get
as far away from home as possible. But nothing can prepare Harriet for
the craziness of Tokyo, her competitive model flatmates and her errant
grandmother’s ‘chaperoning’. Or seeing gorgeous Nick everywhere she
goes.

Because, this time, Harriet knows what a broken heart feels like.

Can geek girl find her place on the other side of the world or is Harriet lost for good?

My ThoughtsFunny and very readable. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Harriet a second time and finding out more of her story.

Laureth Peak's father
is a writer. For years he's been trying, and failing, to write a novel
about coincidence. His wife thinks he's obsessed, Laureth thinks he's on
the verge of a breakdown.He's supposed to be doing research in Austria,
so when his notebook shows up in New York, Laureth knows something is
wrong.

On impulse she steals her mother's credit card and heads
for the States, taking her strange little brother Benjamin with her.
Reunited with the notebook, they begin to follow clues inside, trying to
find their wayward father. Ahead lie challenges and threats, all of
which are that much tougher for Laureth than they would be for any other
16-year old. Because Laureth Peak is blind.

My thoughtsShe is not invisible is a really thoughtful read and I think is my new favourite Marcus Sedgwick.

She
is not invisible utterly fascinated me as a reader for several reasons.
Firstly I loved the mystery behind the story and the whys and
wherefores behind …

A week or so ago I was invited by my lovely blogging friend Clover to join a group of equally awesome bloggers to set up a collaborative youtube channel about books. I've been thinking about vlogging for a while as something to add to what I already do on this blog but was reluctant to do so as I use the youtube account linked to my blogger account to post random youtube videos of me and colleague to help kids revise for exams and I didn't really want to mix the two so for me this is a perfect set up.

Today my first video was posted (with a highly flattering face being pulled but never mind). Please do check out the channel and videos by the other girlies on the project.

Can you believe October is almost over? Here's what I've been up to this month.

Work has been mega busy, lots of late night and lots of marking now the kids coming to the end of the first half term. This has meant I have been chained to my laptop or pile of marking and not done much else. However I do have two exciting things I have been up to.

Firstly I got to attend the wedding reception of my lovely friends Lyndsey and John. Some of you know Lyndsey from page after page reviews so check out the picture below. For the event I helped out with the catering and impressed even myself in managing to produce 50 mini cheesecakes and 50 mini key lime pies and transport them to venue without ruining them (without ruining them was the more impressive feat) with the add of my happy helper Lauren.

The other exciting thing I did this month was attend the grand opening of the Royal Norfolk Regimental Museum opening. I have been working with a small group of students and a colleague (check …

Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the crow feather in her hair. . . .

Fifteen-year-old
Tiger Lily doesn't believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she
meets the alluring teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland
and immediately falls under his spell.

Peter is unlike anyone
she's ever known. Impetuous and brave, he both scares and enthralls her.
As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland's
inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is
risking everything—her family, her future—to be with him. When she is
faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose
between the life she's always known and running away to an uncertain
future with Peter.

With enemies threatening to tear them apart,
the lovers seem doomed. But it's the arrival of Wendy Darling, an
English girl who's everything Tiger Lily is not, that leads Tiger Lily
to discover that the…